Review: Can the Urbanears Alby Wireless Earbuds Compete With Other Budget Headphones?

jakob menendez

December 5, 2022 at 5:30 PM·4 min read

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Listening to music feels inextricably linked to our lives these days. It’s constantly playing where we shop, where we eat, and where we sleep. Or if you’re like us, it’s playing in your ears just about everywhere you go due to that trusty pair of wireless earbuds in your pocket. Recently, that has been the Urbanears Alby wireless earbuds.

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When it comes to the best earbuds, there are seemingly hundreds of options to choose from huge name brands like Apple, Bose, and Beats, to smaller players like Skullcandy, Anker, and JLab. As for what makes any particular pair of wireless earbuds good, that depends on the user. If you’re looking to use them for exercise like swimming or running, you’d be better off with a pair of waterproof or hooked earbuds.

But if you’re just the average listener, looking for a reliable, grainless sound that won’t break the bank, then look no further than the Urbanears Alby wireless earbuds.

Urbanears Alby Wireless Earbuds

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$47 on amazon

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$50 at walmart

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Pros

Smooth sound
Stylish color options
Great value

Cons

No side touch controls
Microphone quality isn’t top tier

Setting Up the Urbanears Alby Wireless Earbuds

As a Galaxy user whose go-to earbuds used to be the Galaxy Buds, we knew that pairing other earbuds would not be quite as seamless. Fortunately, the Urbanears Alby wireless earbuds are very simple to pair. After opening the case and placing the earbuds in your ear, you’ll hear a little jingle letting you know they’re in pairing mode. Almost immediately the earbuds appeared in our Other Devices list and after clicking on it, you’ll hear a separate tone letting you know the pairing is complete.

a person wearing the urbanears alby wireless earbuds in maroon — Ultra Violet Urbanears Alby

In our year and a half of using these earbuds, we’ve seldom had any issues connecting the earbuds on our first try.

Best Features of the Urbanears Alby Wireless Earbuds

While the Urbanears Alby wireless earbuds aren’t chock full of features like some other buds, they do offer a standard IPX4 splash rating which we’ve found to be reliable against sweat while running or walking in light rain. Additionally, they have microphones in both earbuds that allow you to take calls even if only using one earbud, which can be beneficial in office environments.

Their in-ear tips come in three different sizes which allowed us to find the perfect fit pretty easily, but if you’ve had trouble fitting in-ear buds in the past, you might run into similar problems with these given the standard nature of their small, medium, and large sizing options.

a man wearing the urbanears alby wireless earbuds in black

Arguably our favorite feature of the Alby earbuds is their color. We own the Teal Green colorway as it compliments a lot of our wardrobe, but you really couldn’t go wrong with any of their seven options. You’ll be certain, as Urbanears states, to receive “a few compliments” with colors such as Ultra Violet, True Maroon, Liberty Green, New Blue, or for the less flashy their Charcoal Black and Dusty White.

The design and shape of the earbuds are relatively straightforward and plain, but if you’re someone who doesn’t want a whole lot of flash, the minimalist design is appreciated.

How Did the Urbanears Alby Perform?

The Urbanears Alby wireless earbuds aren’t going to knock your socks off with audiophile-quality sound, but for their very modest, sub-$100 price, they produce a nice, smooth, and balanced sound. As we write this piece, the soft melodies of “Make It With You,” by Bread, ring through our ears with total clarity.

The bass isn’t quite as punchy as we would come to expect from a pair of higher-end performing earbuds, but we’re more than willing to trade that for richer and clearer vocals. If you have an Android phone, we would highly recommend tweaking your equalizer settings to custom-tune your earbuds to the specific sound you’re looking for.

Urbanears claims that the earbuds get three straight hours of playback with four additional full charges inside of the case for a total of 15 hours of on-the-go playtime. We’ve found this to be spot on, if even on the modest side. On a recent flight from Charlotte, N.C. to New York, we had them in our ears from the moment we got into the airport to the moment we got home, which was approximately four hours.

The Verdict: Should You Buy the Urbanears Alby Wireless Earbuds?

These headphones are the real deal when it comes to budget-friendly earbuds. We’ve owned plenty of cheaper knockoffs of Apple’s Airpods, but they’re riddled with connectivity issues and terrible sound. Thankfully, with these earbuds nailing the basics, they earn our hearty endorsement.